Turnabout Superheroes
by momijikk
Summary: This was the final stand. The one that would stop all of the rest. It was down to a final showdown; Defense Attorney versus Prosecutor. And there was nothing they could do to stop it.
1. Battle in the Courthouse

_Turnabout Superheroes_

**

* * *

**

**Battle in the Court House**

* * *

"Objection!!"

A sharp outcry pierced through the expecting silence of the courtroom. Spectators gasped and eagerly looked on as another sound, the thud of two open palms slamming down on the wooden bench of the courtroom, rand out, instantly quieting the growing murmur of the audience.

The man standing at the defense's bench, a man with blue eyes and black hair spiked straight back wearing a bright blue suit, a shining, round gold badge pinned securely on his lapel, carried a look of confidence with him. Beside him at the defense's bench was a young girl with long pitch black hair, wearing purple traditional robes of a spirit medium of the Kurain channeling technique; she stared up at the spiked black-haired man with great respect and love, knowing that he was on to something.

Across from the defense's bench was the prosecution's bench, where a prosecuting attorney with silver hair and gray eyes wearing a dark wine red suit, a black vest over a collarless white shirt, and a frilled white necktie called a cravat stood with a mildly intrigued expression, awaiting an explanation for the defense attorney's outcry. This man was his opponent in more ways than one.

And an explanation would only be welcomed as an invitation for more contradictions to his case.

"Well?" He spoke up with a deceivingly oblivious smirk on his face, tone laced with impatient drawl. The blue-clad attorney knew that this adversary was one who knew how to sway the entire court and the judge to his side. "I believe that the court has waited long enough for an explanation to your objection of this sound testimony."

Between the two benches stood the witness stand, where a detective in a green trench coat, black hair, and a bandage on his cheek had taken his place when the cross examination had begun. Now, his shoulders heaving in anger with the knowledge of a contradiction, he glared outright at the defense attorney, his enemy as long as he was the enemy of the prosecuting attorney.

"Yeah! Save your objections, pal! There's nothing wrong with this testimony!"

It was time for the defense to reveal what the two had up their sleeves; his suspicions had been confirmed by the opposition's blatant ignorance of this one overlooked point, thought the prosecuting attorney could have been acting. One could never be entirely sure. "...There is a contradiction. And it lies in the evidence you presented, Edgeworth." The silver-haired man across from the blue-eyed lawyer raised an inquiring eyebrow at this statement, interested with the direction of the conversation. The raised eyebrow was both taunting and inviting for further clarification. It was the taunt that hurt the most. "This piece of evidence you presented to the court clearly contradicts the statement your witness just made in his testimony!"

Apparently, the accusation was true. Both the attorney and his assistant could see the change in expression of the opposition; both the detective and the prosecuting attorney now wore expressions of disbelief.

So it was true, then.

"S-So there is..." The detective's head snapped around at the admission from the prosecuting attorney, shocked at how easily he would admit defeat this time. How could he prove the defendant guilty when his own evidence contradicted the testimony? Gritting his teeth and glaring outright and the blue-clad attorney, the silver-haired man knew that this was a defeat; his glare was familiar to the spiky haired lawyer, all too familiar. "...Judge! Decide on your verdict. There is nothing more to present in this case."

_Because the defendant is truly innocent._

Only slightly flabbergasted, the Judge, sitting a ways away from the witness stand, nodded in agreement. He cleared his throat briefly, clacked his gavel down once to call attention that he was ready, and considered the arguments presented to him. "With the evidence and testimony presented, I have decided on a verdict. The court finds the defendant, Luhe Dao...Not Guilty." Cheering broke out in the audience and from the defense's bench; the defendant and the lawyer's assistant both embraced in joy at the good news. "...Court is adjourned."

A final slam of the gavel and the occupants in the courtroom left quickly, all chattering gaily as they left to return to their normal lives. The defendant, assistant, and defense attorney also left, talking pleasantly amongst themselves, as the prosecuting attorney was left at his bench to glare down that blue-clad man. The detective in the trench coat attempted to console the man's bruised ego, but there was nothing else to be done that to wait for night to fall.

This may have been a loss, thought it would be the las defeat he would feel against that hatefully bewildering defense attorney.

The victory would be coming soon!

However, only he knew this. At the moment, the blue-clad lawyer was unsuspecting of this attack for revenge and blissfully unaware that they would be biding their time until nightfall to enact their counter attack for all the losses they suffered from these wrongfully justice-filled lawyers; both the day and the night defeats.

For now, though, he was busy gathering te news from the other defense attorneys on his team.

As his assistant and his newly released client animatedly discussed his new-found freedom, the spiky black-haired lawyer turned to see a brown-haired, brown-eyed red-clad attorney rushing towards him, a younger girl who wore a blue magician's hat, had brown hair and blue eyes, and was the red-clad lawyer's assistant tailing behind him. The boy was a worker at the blue-eyed attorney's office, and they were also all partners in fighting for justice.

"Mister Phoenix!" The younger attorney called as he came over, a worried look on his face and his assistant fuming behind him. Already, the blue-eyed lawyer could tell that this meant trouble. "Mister Wright, there's a new prosecutor! That-That glimmerous fop guy let leak about it!"

"Apparently, this prosecutor drinks coffee!" The magician girl huffed, her fists on her hips. "Klavier was teasing Apollo, as usual, and then he said something about how the next time Polly goes into court, he might meet someone else besides Klavier. He said he might meet the coffee-drinking god!"

"Trucy, he wasn't teasing me!!"

"He was totally teasing you, Polly!"

As the two bickered like the siblings they were, Phoenix thought about this dilemma to himself. This meant that they would have to be more careful now when they left this night to battle those who tried to harm and frame the innocent. As long as their chief knew about it, then everything would turn out all right.

Speaking of the chief, she walked in as Apollo and Trucy began to yell at each other, the brown-haired teen's face as red as his suit. She had brown hair, kind brown eyes and wore a black jacket and skirt style suit. Beside her trotted a young girl with lighter brown hair, wearing a lighter color of the outfit the blue-clad man's assistant own assistant had on; all three females were related. The magician girl, Trucy, was his adopted daughter, and Apollo, himself, and the chief were the lawyers of the group. They had one other member, his childhood friend, but the guy was not employed in a job of the law.

Approaching quickly, the chief smiled at those gathered in greeting. She caught all of their attention almost immediately. "Hello, everyone. Did all of you find the truth to your cases?"

The red-clad attorney nodded enthusiastically in affirmation. He was apparently in good spirits, even after his assistant's teasing. "You bet! I'd never lose against that glimmerous prosecutor anyways! He's too full of himself to beat me!"

Although both Trucy and the blue-clad attorney's assistant laughed at this unconfirmed friendly rivalry the two had with each other, the chief's expression grew grave. "...Apollo, don't underestimate the enemy. As disarming as they can seem, they can still take you by surprise if you act overconfidant."

"...I know...It's just..." Once again, the rookie lawyer turned as bright as his suit. It seemed as if the error of his assumptions was finally reaching his common sense. "...W-Well, anyways. How did you do against that whip-crazy prosecutor?"

Smiling secretly, the chief nodded slowly as she recounted the trial in her mind. Her client, of course, had been innocent as well. However, she allowed her assistant to step up and tell how the fight between the two female attorney's had played out. "Mystic Mia - I-I mean the Chief - was a fantastic sport about Miss Franziska's sore losing! She was very gracious with her victory; Mystic Maya, I really wish you could have seen it!"

The black-haired teen, surprisingly, shook her head at the statement her younger cousin made. All of the assembled blinked in wonder at this. "No, Pearly, I would have loved to be the one by sis' side, but I'm needed here, with Nick. After all, I get to see how his battles with Mister Edgeworth turn out!"

She winked knowingly at her younger cousin and the blue-clad magician girl, and they nodded wisely in return; all three were partners in something even more secret than their nightly watch.

Ignoring their shared secrecy for the moment, however, Phoenix stepped over to regard the chief with a grave expression. He had to report to her as soon as possible. Sensing the change in the mood, the others gathered had quieted to allow the two to speak. "Chief, we have a new prosecutor to worry about. Klavier let it slip to Apollo; apparently, he drinks a lot of coffee."

Some sign of recognition clicked in the chief's face before being clouded over by reason. Though the blue-eyed lawyer was curious about this, he was more obligated to make a note on this rather than allow his human nature to get the best of him. He had an important report to file, and fleeting suspicions could wait for a moment as cold hard facts were presented first.

"We'll have to watch out for him tonight, but that might be easier if he's drinking coffee. As long as we know he has that, then we'll be able to smell him approaching. As for the others, you all know how to tell if they're approaching."

He had ended up addressing the entire group, and their chief gave him a kind smile, showing that she was approving of his ability to take command. With all attention on the two leaders of the group, even drawing in the blue-clad attorney's client, the chief planned out the situation in her head. She would not allow herself to assume until she saw this new member of the prosecution's; she knew better than to get her hopes up too high.

"Pearl, I need you to go and tell our other member about this new addition to the other's team. Phoenix, Maya, Apollo, Trucy; be prepared. We don't know what to expect from them now."

Punching his fists up into the air, the red-clad defense attorney cheered with enthusiasm. With the introduction of a new opponent, all previous lessons had flown out the window for a brief second. "But we'll come out on top, as always! I'm prepared for anything that glimmerous fop guy can throw at us!"

As the chief stepped in to admonish the rookie lawyer for his over confidence and her assistant rushed off to find their vagabond member to tell him of this new development, the light blue-haired client looked up towards Phoenix with a bewildered expression. His emerald green eyes were wide with wonder and a trace amount of worry. "Um...Excuse me, Wright-san...Are you at war with these prosecutors?"

"No." Shaking his head and smiling warmly at the twenty-one-year-old man, Phoenix had to double check himself so that he was not lying or telling the whole truth of things. This man was now a freed man, but there were certain things that not even those out on the sidewalk, going about their business and oblivious to all around them, were meant to know. "...Well, actually, I guess it's something like that..."

* * *

KK: Okay, Here's a small explanation for this;  
Anyways, this is something I wrote for djsequence (on DeviantArt), because she is the most awesome person in the universe. (...Okay, it's a gift, but it's in return for hats. She is awesome.) And...I don't really know how to explain this. I was really tired when I came up with the idea, and at the time it seemed really hilarious to me.  
It's already finished, but I'm just going to update it periodically. Just 'cause I love you guys THAT much. (Really, I just want reviews, please. Tell me how you like it, please!)


	2. Monologue

**Monologue

* * *

**

Hi. My name is Phoenix Wright. I'm a defense attorney.

...Actually, I'm only a defense attorney by day; at night, I'm in an organization of superheroes whose job is to prevent the prosecutors by day, super villains by night from destroying all the peace. By day, we save innocent clients from their wrongful convictions of 'Guilty'; at night, we save innocents lives from their harsh judgments they decide to give outside of the courtroom.

I joined up with the chief when she saved me from a wrongful verdict; my girlfriend had convicted me for a crime she committed, and the chief believed in my innocence. Hr amazing belief coupled with a picture in the newspaper of an old friend convinced me to go after a job in law. When I asked for an internship from her, she didn't decline.

That picture I saw of my friend seemed sad or hurt, somehow. Like he was asking for help. Like he needed me.

But I met up with him again in court on my second trial since I passed the bar exam and earned my attorney's badge at twenty-four. He was so different than I remembered him to be. He was a prosecuting attorney instead of a defense attorney, for one; he had always wanted to be a lawyer like his father when we were little. I still remember his dad, always so nice, and, like us, involved in something deeper than the outer appearance leads you to believe.

And for another thing...

...He was the Demon.

When the chief recruited me, I had no idea at first that our protection of justice would go this far, like how I remember his father's involvement. And now I know it does; it truly exists.

We were interns for more than just law.

After my first trial, I met him at night. He was a completely different person than I remembered, but that didn't change the fact that he needed me.

He needed my help.

Just like how Trucy needed me.

The chief and I found her and her brother during one of our nightly surveillances, when I was still learning the basics. Because of Demon and the prosecutors' group, the two siblings had become orphans at an early age; Trucy was nine, her brother was fourteen. Chief and I took them in. I raised Trucy, a born magician with a special power, and the chief and I helped her brother, Apollo, become an intern and then a defense attorney by seventeen. They both have a special ability to sense other's nervousness and determine whether or not they're lying. Apollo has a bracelet that fine tunes this power, but Trucy is still good with it on her own.

Tonight is just like any other night. We'll go out and defend the innocent from harm, fighting the prosecution with all of our might. We're the protectors.

I'll have to fight him again.

Tonight is just like all of the other nights.

So why does it hurt so much?

* * *

KK: Okay. This is just one of those monologue things; like in the game, how after the intro and a few bits of talking in the courtroom lobby, the main character (Either Mia, Apollo, or Phoenix) introduces themselves and tells a bit about thier lives so far. Also, it allows you to better understand the time line of how I wrote this, since there are time paradoxes galore.


	3. On the Prosecution's Side

**On the Prosecution's Side

* * *

**

"All of you are failures. At least you'll be perfect in that sense."

The overly glamorous blond rolled his eyes as the silvery blue-haired girl gritted her teeth and the silver-haired man flinched unnoticeably. The three stood more-or-less at attention in front of their two leaders, a gray-haired man who also wore a cravat and an older blond who wore glasses over conspiratorial ice blue eyes. Somewhere in the distance, outside of the building that served as their offices and their headquarters, the detective was off getting the five villains dinner as he discussed a night shift with a science-loving detective of twenty.

For the moment, the silver-haired prosecutor could have cared less whether or not the detective's work was seen to; he had work of his own that needed to get completed and their leaders were not making this meeting any shorter for those who actually did their job. The overly glamorous blond was a man of nineteen, and was prone to periods of ignorance and negligence; the silvery blue-haired girl was of the same age, and though she was more attentive, serious, and fierce, she could get a little carried away and would end up causing more problems than she could fix.

This man with grayed, almost white hair wearing the cravat was her father and the silver-haired man's mentor. The bespectacled blond was the tyrannical older brother of the overly glamorous blond, an old friend of the mentor, and the high prosecutor. The two were the group's leaders, being the most ruthless of them and the ring leaders. The silver-haired prosecutor may not have agreed with many of the things they did, but he was helpless in fighting them, as they held him and the others there by fear and black mail.

It was the blond high prosecutor's turn to speak; he adjusted his glasses menacingly as he addressed the three who stood before him. "I expected failure from all of you, I must say, but even with the help we gave you, all of you still persist in being troublesome failures. Incompetence really can't be helped."

Beside him, the rocker prosecutor shuddered unexpectedly at the brother's glare and averted his eyes, preferring to stare at the wall rather than at his older brother. Perhaps the silver-haired man wasn't as afraid of the blond attorney as the blond prosecutor was because he was not the man's younger brother, nor was the blond older than the silver-haired prosecutor. This man with the glasses was merely to be obeyed because the mentor had said to obey.

"...For those, we will distribute the corresponding punishments at a later time. Tonight, we ensure our victory. Now, allow me to introduce you all to the much anticipated ally we have acquired..." With a showy sweep to the side, the blond adjusted his glasses as he made way for their new arrival. The three before him peered curiously into the darkness, trying to catch a glimpse of this mystery. "The one you all have been told about or even have heard tell of in passing; he is, after all, otherworldly. Godot is what he prefers to be called; the man whose sight is painted black and whose tears remain the color he is blind to."

"Special privileges come with that handicap, drill head..."

The deep, throaty voice was accompanied by an extra-loud swallow, and the gathered finally saw the new member, a man with a visor over his face that had three glowing red beams, prematurely white hair, holding a coffee mug filled with the steaming liquid blacker than oil and smirking cockily. Something about this man was familiar to the silver-haired prosecutor, but nothing seemed to jump out at him immediately besides the man's name. As a man of literature, he could not believe the pun this man had decided on as a name; could someone really be that full of themselves as to call themselves by a name of god? Unbelievable.

"Though these eyes are now as useful to me as cream in my straight black coffee, this hunk of equipment I wear allows me to see everything except for the bloody color that stains my past. It also allows me to have certain special abilities...Ones that I'm certain you'll need to take down that wimpy defense team."

"Why work for us?" The silvery blue-haired teen questioned, drawing out her whip and snapping it threateningly. Apparently, she was not convinced of his loyalty, just as she was not convinced of the two prosecutors standing beside hers'. Such was her nature to doubt, after all, as the mentor was her father. "You could be a spy. Have you been told the punishments for treachery yet?!"

The man took another audible swig of his oil black coffee before replying. "...I have my reasons. Personal ones. Ones that should remain hidden from accusing eyes like yours. I'm sure you had your reasons, too, Franziska."

Taken aback a bit at being called by her name, the blue-haired prosecutor ground her teeth in frustration and struck out at the infuriating man only to have her father catch the whip on his arm and deflect the lash back at her. Even the silver-haired prosecutor knew that it was better to fight the enemy than to fight amongst themselves, though he would silently admit that the mentor's methods were too cruel and harsh for a teen her age.

"Enough, Franziska von Karma. You shall not attack another ally; save your strength for those heroes tonight."

While the mentor continued to lecture his daughter on her shortcomings and the blond who hid his eyes behind his glasses went to torment his younger brother verbally, the new member drifted over to make his greetings to the silver-haired prosecutor, who would have rather been left alone to think. The evidence on his trial that the leaders handed to him hadn't made any sense; were they becoming careless in their investigation? Purposefully sabotaging their cases? Or...forging?

"Long time no see, Demon. Miles Edgeworth, wasn't it?"

Though the silver-haired prosecutor made a point of appearing shocked at hearing both of his names being used by this stranger, he was truly very calm on the inside and simply curious as to how this new recruit knew as much as he did. The strong scent of coffee hung about in the air; it was all too familiar, all too overpowering.

Somewhere in his mind, he recognized this man.

"I'll understand if you can't recall. Some men wait all their life to meet god, and then he may waft through right under their noses like a woman's faint perfume, unnoticed and unrecognized."

God...? So this man truly thought of himself as an equal to God?

Miles had met many men like that, but only one who was also the chugger of coffee. "..._Blacker than a moonless night, more bitter than hell itself_..." The single line was nonsense on its own, but the man with the visor was the one of the few who knew its true meaning. After all, the man had made that line up himself. "...Wasn't that how you phrased it, Diego Armando?"

A coy smirk placed itself upon the coffee lover's lips as he finished off the cup of black coffee he had been drinking since he had entered. Instantly, another cup flew his way to replace the empty one, though where it had come from was a mystery to the man of logic. "I'm glad I can be remembered by the baby Demon who made my intern cry." The absence of the overly-used pet name, 'kitten', was small but noticeable for the ever alert prosecutor. Something about the once fiery and always sarcastic man was decidedly off. "...No matter. I'm simply here to get my revenge on a certain...tart pest. Ever hear about a Mr. Phoenix Trite?"

"...You do mean 'Wright', don't you?"

"I said that. Trite."

Twitching in aggravation, Miles refused to reply to the man's remark or let himself fall for the bait that had been laid to obviously infuriate him. He was no longer friends with him. There would never again be a time of peace between them. And yet that smug smirk would not leave the dark-skinned man's face; it was as if all of his carefully built excuses and walls were being torn down carelessly by this unwavering entity.

"He took the bitterness I taste in my coffee and changed it into a foul hatred. And so my reason to take revenge on him. I'll wail on the useless, disgusting tart until he begs for mercy...And then I'll refuse him that mercy."

He couldn't stand it any longer. The spring inside of him, prior to which could withstand all of the verbal and physical beating without a problem, had finally snapped in two torn pieces violently. The aura around him, which had previously been subdued, suddenly burst aflame as he took a threatening step towards the ever unreachable, taunting god. His knuckles were white with restraint, freezing in contrast to the licking, blazing flames surrounding him. All had turned to see what had happened to set the normally subdued silver-haired man off, and he took a short moment to be grateful that they could only see the outside.

A moment or so of unnerving tension passed, and Miles withdrew back into himself, extinguishing the flames enveloping him and relinquishing the clenched fists so that they may regain their blood flow once again. He had been glaring at the coffee-loving man until the mentor came over to punish the silver-haired prosecutor who should have known better by now.

It was more of a lecture than a punishment; the physical and mental pain would come later.

For now, it was night. Night was a time where they rose to do battle. They needed their strength on the battlefield.

The mentor was going on about how this was the night they would achieve victory; Miles was hardly listening to the old man's drawl. Careful plans were laid out, specific instructions given, orders to not screw up; it was, as usual, perfection or death. All of the parts had been assigned. All of the names had been called.

All of the cast was present and accounted for.

Phoenix Wright; Rising Turnabout. Miles Edgeworth; Demon. Maya Fey; Channeling Samurai. Dick Gumshoe; Whoopinator. Mia Fey; Evening Star. Diego Armando; Godot. Franziska von Karma; Whiplash Girl. Larry Butz; Ladies' Man. Manfred von Karma; Perfectionist. Pearl Fey; Spirit Medium. Klavier Gavin; Hard Rocker. Apollo Justice; Captain Justice. Kristoph Gavin; Puppet Master. Trucy Wright; Magic Act.

They were all tied together in more ways than one. It wasn't their job or secret services that held them together.

But what did, Miles was not completely sure of.

As their meeting was adjourned, the sun having finally set, leaving the last thin rays of hope grasping for a hold to remain in the dimming cold skies, they donned their customary outfits and left their base, one by one.

Before he exited, the coffee lover shot a smug smirk at the silver-haired prosecutor, the last to leave but not the only one left. Miles felt himself bristling at the offense, although he suppressed the rage well.

It was a blatant, in your face taunt that Miles would not allow himself to answer.

God had looked back to smirk knowingly in the face of the demon, taunting with information the demon had not meant to let slip.

Yes; he knew how it was for the demon.

After all, the glare the demon had given God had said all the words the demon had been repressing, all of the hurt that had been bottled up, all of the love that had been hidden.

The glare had told all.

_'Don't you dare harm him; I'll rip out your soul and tear it to shreds if you hurt the one I love!!'_


	4. To Enact A Nightmare

**To Enact A Nightmare

* * *

**

Night.

The essential hours of darkness in which cities slumbered, masses celebrated, and powers awoke. It was the bewitching hours where unsuspecting groups were both attacked and guarded by the teams who defended and prosecuted them by day.

With darkness as their cover, ally, enemy, and downfall, the attorneys grew bold and flew out into the night so that they may have struck down their adversaries to save the unknowing world. Somewhere there were others like the handful of attorneys, but they would find no more similar help here.

Looking around carefully, bright blue eyes surrounded by black surveyed the emptiness of the skies. The blue bird crouched, hidden by the turning corner of a building into an alley way, while his partner, his black-haired assistant girl, stayed attune to the sounds around them. He was their eyes, conditioned to watch witnesses and defendants and suspects giving their testimonies, and she was their ears, trained to sense differences around them due to other's spirits and auras. They always moved in pairs; except for their one lone member who preferred to fight on his own. To mimic this, their opponents also paired up and left one member to attack solo.

Sometimes they fought different pairs, but it was always the same opponent the blue-clad attorney was fighting.

Demon.

"Hey, hey, Nick." His partner's whispers brought him back from his thoughts and to where she was pointing, tugging on his sleeve with her free hand. The thick, fresh fragrance of coffee suddenly bombarded his senses. "We're being rushed at. Looks like they found our location!"

The glowing beams of red light came into view, and Phoenix saw that his partner was correct. Their opponent was approaching quicker than he thought at first, and for a moment, he considered running away as an option. That option had rapidly thrown itself out, however, as he noticed his partner's reaction to the arrival of two more of their enemies; he knew the two well. With the running man nearing, though, there was no time to worry about observers.

"...Maya, go and get some back up. I can distract them until then." As expected, the girl turned to pitch a fit over leaving her partner and friend on his own, but he didn't feel like listening to her whine about it at the time. With every second wasted, the man with the glowing visor gained more and more ground on the duo. "Don't fight with me, Maya! Just go and get Trucy and Apollo or someone. I have a feeling those two aren't going to attack for a while."

Huffing over exaggeratedly, the black-haired assistant girl dashed off, utilizing her speed and senses to find back up for her friend. The black-haired attorney turned back to the approaching dasher, preparing himself for whatever this man could throw at him. If he could shoot lasers from that headgear of his, the defense attorney was ready to parry against them. If he dashed headlong into the man, then he was ready to fly out of the way.

What was most unexpected was in the greatest likeliness to occur.

Just as the man with the visor came within striking distance and the blue-clad lawyer braced himself for attack and parry, a fist came out and struck the man across the face.

The one thing he hadn't expected.

As the attorney went flying into the wall beside him, the visored man smirked in satisfaction, not even caring about the bruises that would stain his hand from the force of the impact. Those would heal soon enough anyways. He opponent merely strolled over to hoist the winded attorney to his feet and struck him to the floor once more.

Beside to blond rocker, the second observer stirred uneasily and uncertainly. The two stood, unmoving once more before they saw their ally begin to beat all of his anger into the innocent attorney. Beside him, the second observer stirred again.

A pattern. So the young magician girl had been correct about her foster father. Smiling secretly to himself, the rocker prosecutor decided to take action; he would help the cause if it meant helping his friend. "...Go on. You want to, don't you, Herr Miles?"

"Preposterous. I have no idea what you are implying."

By the man's stiff tone, Klavier knew that the costume-clad prosecutor had every single idea about what had been implied. The innocent smile transformed into a smirk. "I think you do. So go ahead. Help him. I'm not one to judge."

Silence as the silver-haired man's glare from behind his helmet-like mask increased. He was actually thinking about helping as an option; the blond could see that he wasn't the only one with ties to the defense's side. "...You're not, but the Perfectionist is. And we both already have a mark against us."

In response, the blond shrugged in a non-committal fashion. "His opinion doesn't matter right now. And I've already faced every kind of torture my brother can dish out at me. I was his guinea pig for those methods after all." Another moment of hesitation slid by. The blue-clad attorney below had begun to fight off his tormentor, though he was in bad shape compared to this seemingly unstoppable force. "...Go. He needs you; who are you to deny him that?"

With a final, light push, Miles nodded towards the blond in some gesture of appreciation and shot down to throw the man with the glowing visor off of his once-friend. While the attorney was looking grateful, the silver-haired prosecutor glared at the tormentor as the aura around him caught fire once more. This tormentor, though on his 'side', was the opponent of his friend; that was something he could not forgive so easily.

And who was the blond to stop true love?

"Godot, stop. You've gone too far on this one."

The tone of the prosecutor's voice was colder and harsher than the blue-clad attorney had heard most recently; it was the tone his old friend had adopted when they had first met on the battle field. All that mattered for the time being, however, was that he had been helped by his old friend.

"...And you, Phoenix!" The fire extinguished as the silver-haired man turned, his arms crossed angrily, to face the blue-clad attorney now, who was still on the floor. The look on the floored man's face must have been dumbfounded, because the other man began to tap his finger, clearly annoyed. "How come you didn't fight back sooner? He made a mess of you; it's like you've gone back to the years of childhood while I was away."

The tone was now parental, scolding, friendly. This was the Miles he remembered, had wanted to meet up with again as soon as he found that his old friend was back in their hometown.

"Hey, could I really have helped that? He took me by surprise, Miles." Grinning as the prosecutor recoiled defensively at the realization of familiarity used, he held out his hand, wordlessly asking for help once more. The shame disappeared from the silver-haired man's face as he took the outstretched hand and hauled the old friend to his feet. "...It's been a while. Since I got hurt this badly, I mean. Who...?"

A sick, deep laughter interrupted their pause, bringing their attention to the fallen tormentor. After having been flung, the man had managed to regain his footing and was hunched over, both hands on his knees. He was not injured even in the slightest; it was the fact that he was laughing too hard that was forcing him to hunch over. "...I knew it. I knew it the moment you let your mind slip. Who would have thought that the scum flock together like **that**?"

Flinching at that comment, Miles looked away for moment before setting his glare back on the tormentor, the ever unreachable God. The aura around the silver-haired man was crackling, alive with a pulsing, beating anger. The smirk on God's face could not be wiped away so easily.

"...I'm shocked that you're willing to do this, despite what you know. Come on. You know you're mentor wouldn't be so happy to hear that his star pupil was flaming...And not just the type that your fiery heart bleeds after a caressing from the piercing blade of reality."

The dark alleyway was soon illuminated by the glowing, spitting flames surrounding the infuriated silver-haired prosecutor. Beside him, the spiked black-haired defense attorney stepped up as well, avoiding the flames that would indiscriminately burn the man up as well as they would their opponent.

Above, the lone blond spectator settled down on the roof, highly amused by the events below him. He was willing to watch the enemies' spat, but he was not going to interfere as his brother would urge him to do, or join as the young magician would undoubtedly encourage him to do. This was not his battle, and therefore it was not his place to fight.

"That fire..." The soft, familiar voice which lighted down beside the blond was welcomed with the shift in attention though the arrival had not been anticipated. Below, the blue-clad attorney's partner reappeared with the blue-clad magician girl right on her tail. A smile tugged on the rocker prosecutor's lips, though he knew he should not smile with this much pleasure at the approach of an enemy. "...It reflects his aura. Fiery, burning, passionate, determined..."

At the trailing off of the arrived's description, the blond allowed himself a smaller smile of fondness. He may tease this man, but it was only a friendly teasing; his glimmer of hope could not be. "...If I didn't know you better, I'd say that by the way you speak of it, you've fallen in love with my partner in crime, Apollo."

Light laughter pervaded their darkness. "Please, Klavier, don't joke like that. It is a good thing you know me better, though."

Below, the battle with the seemingly unbeatable god raged on, as team member assisted friend, and both assistants watched in awe as the blue-clad lawyer and the silver-haired attorney fought side by side, as good at assisting one another as they were at opposing one another. The blond found this both interesting and awe inspiring; his friend on the force was far stronger, braver, and had more ability to go after what he wanted than the rocker prosecutor could ever hope to have.

When they complimented each other so well like that, how could he not feel so defeated?

At least a friendship was still possible.

"...Yes. It is a good thing."

The defense side was winning again. Though it troubled Miles that, somewhere, the others were ganging up on the rest of the team, he couldn't let it bother him. He had a role to fulfill. He had a friend to save.

He would not abandon a friend in need again when the truth was at stake.

With a final swing and a flare of flame, the man with the visor was thrown back and against a wall. Both watching assistants cheered for their victories, the two old friends smiled warmly at one another, united at last, the red-clad defense attorney silently reveled in their opponents defeat, and the blond merely smiled along with the crowd. Something was coming. This celebration was premature.

And, as he expected, the brown-haired lawyer swiveled towards him, normally brown eyes glowing red with his ability to perceive when someone was hiding something or lying. It would have been known soon anyways. "...They're heading this way, Apollo. All of the. Best to prepare for the shock."

At the rocker's unexpected grin, the rookie attorney raised and eyebrow that was hidden by his mask. "What...? Shock?"

"Yes. Not pertaining to you, but then you have no more secrets to hole like the rest of us do, ja?"

"Klavier...?!"

Commotion occurring below amongst the supers brought away the rookie lawyer's attention, and the blond was thankful for the distraction being at that second. Otherwise, he might have let every known secret spill forth, because he couldn't suppress the visions back while looking into those red eyes one minute longer.

The other supers, both the defense team and the prosecution's team, had all rushed into the now cramped ally, the chief and the two leaders of the blond prosecutor's group standing out from the crowd. The female chief saw the fallen adversary rising slowly to his feet, and, oddly, her eyes widened with disbelief. Among the unmistakable scent of smoke was the lingering fragrance of dark coffee.

"...Diego...?" The name slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself. The tormentor's head snapped up at the sound of his name being used, and his entire being stopped at the sight of the chief. Around them, including the two observers who were separated from the rest, all of the supers' jaws dropped in shock. "Diego?!"

For a suspended moment, it appeared as if the man with the visor recognized the chief as well. His mouth formed words which his throat would not let pass his lips, and the two villains sensed an impending doom about the situation. Both the magician girl and the red-clad rookie could sense this change in the enemy leaders due to their gifts, but the two most in-tune with the defense's side could see the looks on their faces as well. There was something going on, and, like the strangely out of place evidence, it most likely was not clean.

Quicker than a flash, the two had hoisted the blind man the rest of the way up to his feet and moved him off into the darkness, unofficially declaring that their skirmish was over for the night. Taking this as a cue, the whip-toting prosecutor hurried the scruffy detective out, with a last glare at the defense's vagabond member. The detective rapidly made himself scarce, even leaving the silver-haired prosecutor in his wake. Left behind, the man hesitated, being confronted with both an old friend and an inevitable punishment.

On one hand, he had already told himself that rekindling anything with this man was hopeless. On the other hand, he still had strong ties to the man. The emotions were never easy to ignore.

A final glance into the blue-clad attorney's bright blue eyes cemented his resolve. Averting his own silver eyes with a sigh, he reached up to remove his orange-lensed helmet as he raised his gaze level to that of his old friend's once more. "...Phoenix, I--"

A crack sounded out as Miles flinched and consequentially shoved his head back into his helmet. He had waited too long; Franziska, who had grown bored with waiting for the silver-haired prosecutor to finish up, had put her whip into action again by snapping it viciously on the stalling man's back. Phoenix reacted strongly to this, but was stopped from beginning a fight with the whip-happy girl by a restraining hand placed on his shoulder by the man in front of him. The strikes were useless against him, as he had grown used to them. However, he could still feel their sting.

After another few seconds had passed, and the silver-haired man could sense the silvery blue-haired teen raising her whip again, he gave a slight nod of affirmation to his old friend before turning to walk away. Taking a page from his main partner's actions, the blond prosecutor above rotated to his companion observer and bowed politely, saying goodbye in his own way by taking the brown-haired attorney's hand as he bowed.

Knowing he had the red-clad lawyer confused and flustered, he straightened back up and smiled. It was not a performance smile that he fed so many people every day, but a genuinely kind smile. "...I'll see you, then, Herr Justice. He next time we meet, I'll be in refusal to your request."

Before Apollo even had any time to question it, the rocker prosecutor had quickly swiveled on his feet and dashed off into the darkness of the sluggishly receding night, taking the same general direction as the others of his group had. To the estimation of the magician girl, the rookie lawyer could have stayed there staring all night if she hadn't called him down to join the rest of them.

The chief looked sorrowful, a great contrast to her usual gently encouraging and kind demeanor. All of their group, including the usually carefree vagabond, instantly became worried for their leader. "...Let's head home, everyone. I'll...I'll explain what I can to you in the morning, when we've all had our rest. Now let's head out."

The group agreed all at once, moving as one entity in the direction of their law firm, the Fey & Co. Law Offices, where the (Apollo) Justice League made their base and home. Their firm had been gaining publicity lately and had become quite a popular subject among other defense offices, and they were able to receive more clients with the three working attorneys now.

That office was their base of operations for their nightly daring rescues and battles as well, but for most of them, it was also a home to come back to after a night of skirmishes or a day of work investigating or defending. It was especially this way for the teenagers in their group, Maya, Apollo, Trucy, and Pearl.

Tonight, everyone would sleep there in order to be on time for the chief's explanation. They had all gathered there for the night. To Phoenix, it seemed that something was going to go down soon, and so he was thankful that they were all together. Scattered, they would be simple and easy to defeat; grouped together, even if only by pairs, they made formidable opponents.

If he met Miles in battle again, he wasn't sure if he would be able to fight.

Phoenix was used to trusting his gut feeling and going off of that. That and his two most precious items, his defense attorney's badge and a green gem that looked like half of a Yin-Yang sign called a magatama, were what helped him determine whether or not a client was innocent or guilty. But he knew mostly by gut instinct.

Miles was innocent. He had to have been. Otherwise, why would he defend the blue-clad attorney twice in their lives?

Right now, however, he needed to rest up, as they all did. Too much had happened in one day for the members of the defense's team to handle. As they settled into darkness, all allowed the shadows of sleep to overtake them, slipping off into the shores of slumber, being pulled into an unconscious state by the tugging waves.

None of their dreams were rocky, but a black void had filled the chief, the rookie lawyer, and the blue-clad attorney's minds. The vagabond knew exactly where he stood, as did the assistants, but the defense attorneys faced a conflict of helping their friends who were on the prosecutions side.

The defense would never rest as long as there were innocent victims being wrongfully accused or oppressed. The prosecution would never rest as long as the defense remained standing.

As they were the opposing sides doomed to battle with one another until the bitter end, they were also prone to having their raw emotions being ripped from their bleeding hearts if they even hinted that they had weaknesses. For Phoenix, it was Miles; for Apollo, it was Klavier. The ones they fought against the most in court were the ones who knew them the most intimately and had easier access to their tender emotions.

After a certain amount of time, though, the darkness must give way to the light. The deep, thoughtless dusk soon concedes to the dawn, and the defense team awoke to a new day filled with possibilities unseen while in the dark.

Every member filed into the office once they were ready and awaited the chief's explanation. A brief silence and a deep inhale passed before she could force the words back out.

"Diego...was my fiancee." Her admission brought a gasp from the purple-clad spirit medium-in-training, who covered her mouth in shock. In response to her younger sister's shock, Mia nodded solemnly. "...Yes, Maya. I met him after I became an intern, and I lost him half a year after my first case against one of our more known enemies. He was such a bright, sarcastic, unpredictable person; that he is on the prosecution's side isn't all that much of a shock to me. But I have the feeling he doesn't exactly recognize me..."

Nodding in understanding, Phoenix placed a comforting hand on his chief's shoulder. He could understand since he had been in a similar situation. "...Don't worry about it so much, Chief. There has to be a reason why he can't recognize who you are."

"Yeah!" Maya automatically agreed, her arms straight with anger and a solid pout on her face. Mia smiled warmly in gratitude towards her younger sister. "Maybe they brainwashed him so that he'd be on their side! Otherwise, I can't understand why he'd fight against you when he loved you so much."

The vagabond crossed his arms for a moment in thought, then brought his fists up to his face in his classic whining or complaining face. Even if the two male attorneys were the loudest of their group, the blue-clad man's friend came pretty close to their volume. "It's not right!! Brainwashing a guy to fight his girl, it's just..t's just...That's just wrong!!"

"I agree, Mister Larry!" The chief's assistant, Pearl, piped up, her arm raised and bent as she gripped the area of her bicep with her free hand. By her affected pose, Phoenix could tell that she was absolutely infuriated. "Making someone fight their 'special someone' with this...brain-washing...I can't believe someone would do that! How could those evil men commit such a crime?!"

Before a fight could break out between them over how bad this postulation was and how to fix it, the chief stepped in and quelled their restless fighting spirits with a warm smile to show that she appreciated all of their intentions to help. Immediately, all of the members were calmed from their lust for battle.

"...Thank you. All of you. I appreciate your concern, but you must remember that if he attacks you, you can not allow him mercy. You must fight him back. As long as he is a part of the prosecution, he is our enemy." After a brief pause, the grim expression that had grown on her face in place of the smile dissipated. She was smiling warmly once more. "Anyways, you're dismissed for the day. Attorneys, remember to complete your paperwork before taking on any new cases. We must be responsible, not careless."

"That goes for you too, chief!"

"Yes, I know, Apollo."

As the attorneys bustled off, chatting with each other happily and busily, their assistants stayed behind in the main room of the office building, observed closely by the vagabond, to discuss the matters of their meddling. Starting the discussion happened to be the blue-clad lawyer's assistant, who was the one who had started their interference in the lawyers' lives.

"Okay. Last night was it. Nick and Mister Edgeworth just need the smallest push in order to be together!"

Pearl looked up sadly at Maya, and yet she held great respect in her gaze as well. "So you really don't mind letting Mister Nick and Mister Edgeworth be together, Mystic Maya? I thought Mister Nick was your special someone..."

A strained smile grew on the medium-in-training's face. Her younger cousin was naive and innocent, but she had not figured out that Maya was not in love with Phoenix after she had made the slight mistake of saying that the blue-clad defense attorney was special to her. "N-No, Pearly. Nick isn't my special someone. Nick's special someone is Mister Edgeworth and vie-versa."

Nodding in agreement, her blue silk magician's hat bobbing up and down with her movements, Trucy smiled cheerily. There was rarely a time when she was sad. "And Klavier is Polly's 'special someone' as well! Polly likes him, but I'm not quite sure he knows he does!"

"And we have to help Mystic Mia with her fiancee!"

The three nodded in unison, united in their determination to bring the opposing sides together. If they had any say in this, those who were too shy, too embarrassed, too far in denial, or too hopeless would not lose their chance. There were ways to make the impossible possible, one just had to find the right trigger.

Larry, however, who had been loitering nearby, shook his head at the three meddlesome assistants. "Hey, I may be all for helping those three get their hunnies, but interfering isn't the way to do it. Let them figure out their situations themselves, and they'll all come around sooner or later on their own."

"Mister Larry!" Much to the vagabond's surprise, the younger spirit medium stepped up, glaring at the usually very carefree man. She looked more furious than wrathful, which was good since Larry preferred not to get slapped by her. "You don't have time to worry about everyone else! You have your own problems with Miss Franziska to work out!"

Raising a finger, about to retort to the point, a look of realization passed Larry's face, and he put his arm down. Unexpectedly, he beamed, nodded in agreement with the younger medium, and dashed out the door after shouting his goodbyes to all six occupants.

A moment of puzzled silence passed before the three assistants grinned at each other and rushed to their respective attorney's office. While Maya was nagging Phoenix about his predicament, Trucy bounced into Apollo's small office happily and commenced with her way of bugging him about his own problem. He refused to bite the bait, and after enduring as much of her incessant chatter as he could, he stood up from his desk, quickly throwing a few items into his brief case, and fixed her with a serious look to halt her nagging.

"I'm going out for a moment. I'll be back soon, but I want to be alone for the time being."


	5. Broken

**Broken

* * *

**

Klavier sighed to himself as he watched the perfectionist take a whip to his pupil's back for his insolence and disobedience. The blond prosecutor had already received his punishments from the blond with glasses, and was now forced to watch his partner being beaten. Both of them had disobeyed their commanders and orders to stay away from the defense side of the opponents, but they had been drawn to the other side anyways.

The ring leaders of their group were very close to using their special kind of persuasion on the two defiant prosecutors; Klavier did not care by this point. He already knew where everything was heading; those with their steps on both sides would be forced into combat against one another, and people would get hurt. He was one of those who was going to be injured.

It wouldn't matter if his brother manipulated his mind like he had taken control of their new addition. Fate always found a way. Being one of the few messengers of fate, he would know this first hand. The visions and snatches he could view, however, were his alone to carry and interpret. No one else could know, especially not the leaders, especially not his brother.

With another sigh, the blond prosecutor pushed himself off of the wall where he was leaning and began to walk away, making sure to grab his dark purple jacket as he made his way to the entrance. Before the others could snap at him for what he could presume was slacking off and skipping out on a psychological torment, he gave them one of his performance smiles to waive off their worries. Of course this wouldn't work at all the way they would think he wanted it to, but it did.

"I'm heading out for a bit. Don't worry, I'll be back soon enough. I'd like to be on my own for a little while. There's less noise that way."

He saluted mockingly to his brother and their other leader as he strolled out of the office with his jacket cheekily tossed over his shoulder and flew out of the office building, savoring his momentary freedom.

There was somewhere he needed to go.

Somewhere in the middle of a bustling street, where others hurried by, not noticing the real treasure they were passing in their rush.

The blond knew. It was a place of solace that the leaders could never locate, as it was a very special place; even with the presence of a super, they could never pinpoint its exact location because to them, it did not exist. There were others there, friends the rocker had there, and those friends were all a part of the staff, though they did not posses the powers the warring attorneys had.

They would understand. They and the other would.

They would know of his attempts to block out all of the pain and sorrow he felt; he was assured that they wouldn't mind if he dropped in for a while to add some company. He and his friend.

If only the fates would let things work out. The real question was if he would be able to.

The moment he started approaching the somewhat hidden building, he could sense that there was another super loitering around there. It couldn't have been one of his group, so it had to be one of the defense team. Immediately his guard was up, and he appeared casual as he neared the secretive hang out's entrance. Once he was near enough to see, he sneakily stole a glance at the loitering attorney, careful not to make eye contact, and nearly blew his cover from shock.

Of all people it had to be him. It had to be that red-clad rookie attorney waiting by the restaurant entrance, searching the crowd for a familiar face.

He may have set up this meeting, but he hadn't actually expected the lawyer to show.

Cautiously, he meandered over to the brown-haired teen with a friendly smile and a wave, to which the younger man waved back and faintly grinned in return. Somehow, seeing that the other had been waiting and expecting him to show made the rocker prosecutor even worse about this idea.

To avoid further suspicion, the two stood in a less viewable spot just inside he overhang of the easily passed building. Neither really wanted to be the first to speak, so the blond decided to take the plunge. There were far too many things to express at once, too many things to convey, to convince, to explain, and so he stumbled with a few false starts at first.

This would be it.

"...Um, Apollo...A-Are you hungry? We can eat while we're here!"

Not quite what he had planned to say, but the brown-haired teen's smile softened as he shook his head. Klavier felt like tearing his head off; he was both stupid and too much of a coward to deal with this pain the other caused him at the moment, and yet he put up with it anyways just to see that smile.

"No, I'm not hungry right now. Maybe we can make a date of it later." He hesitated for a second, and the smile disappeared from his expression. "But...We have to discuss a few things. Things that concern our nightly habits; things that are too dangerous to talk about out in the open like this."

Of course Klavier knew; that was one of the reasons why he had asked Apollo out in broad daylight in the first place. Still, he nodded dumbly, unable to voice his points quite yet. Against this teen, he was left defenseless. "Yes. I know. So...Where would you like to...?"

Apollo already had it figured out; he pointed vaguely in a direction a ways away from the building they were taking shelter under for the time being. Without thinking, the rookie lawyer grasped the rocker prosecutor's hand and began to lead him along towards their destination.

But the blond had to draw the line there.

He didn't want to be hurt anymore, he could no longer take the teasing. There was only one way to stop the pain, only one option that could be taken.

Although the young defense attorney looked a bit disappointed and bewildered at how the blond had released the grip on his hand, and the expression tore at the blond's conscience, he knew this had to be done. If not now, then everything would break apart. He couldn't handle that again. "...I...I can't. Not today, not..No. I can't."

Apollo had gone past bewildered into flabbergasted. "...What...?"

"I can't. I'm...me. And...you're the enemy; this won't work."

_'It's not my decision, but...'_

"I have to go now."

_'I'm sorry...'_

He could feel the surge of feeling pulsing behind his mask, demanding for discharge that instant. Nothing could be revealed; not yet, at least. Before anything else could harm or be said, the blond turned and walked away, hands shoved deep into his pockets. Nothing had gone as he had imagined it would; nothing.

No doubt the rookie lawyer would be wondering what had happened to the prosecutor, why he had been acting like that, and how angry he felt because of it, but the rocker would not turn to see if his assumptions were correct. He would not allow himself the luxury of looking back once more to have himself broken again.

Right now, the only thing left the allowed himself to think about was his destination, the prosecution's office, and how his brother was going to punish him for his insubordinance.

It was the same dredge every singe day.

However, something else was waiting for him than what he had been suspecting. The minute he walked into the offices, a hand shot out and grabbed him roughly into a different room. It was the High Prosecutor's office; his older brother's room. Apparently, the hand had belonged to one silver-haired prosecutor and the blond's partner in crime, Miles Edgeworth. Though Klavier wanted to know what was going on, he allowed his senior to explain himself first.

"Klavier, they told me to relay the news to you. In secret, where there were no prying eyes, of course."

"Why not use my office or your own, then? Mine is soundproof, and..." At the blond's suggestion, the silver-haired man shook his head. Something was wrong here. A sense of foreboding was trickling down the rocker's back. "...Not safe enough, though, right?"

A nod from his partner made the teen ponder if there happened to be something else on the older man's mind. The silence was to be expected from the man, but there was a sort of apprehension emanating as well as the usual stoicness. "...They have eyes in there, outside, everywhere; but there are no cameras here. There aren't any in here, because they wouldn't expect it from your brother considering he's one of our leaders. Even my office is no longer secure."

The man seemed to struggle inwardly with the wording of things before he could accurately explain what it was that was bothering him so much. Besides the other painfully obvious reason to the blond, of course.

"...I'm sure of it now. Those two...Our 'leaders'...They've been forging evidence for the cases we've all been handling. They even forge evidence for their own cases..."

The blond teen sighed; he expected this talk, but not quite like this. He would know about his brother's tendency to have evidence forged, since he was one of the ones who had witnessed his brother commissioning for forged evidence when they were younger, in Germany still. "...I know about that. I just didn't think he would have continued with it this far into his life."

"You knew?!"

"Of course I knew; he's my bro." The blond laughed lightly at his partner's reaction to his calm demeanor, but inside he was still out of sorts. There was still that foreboding ringing that was giving him chills. Good thing he had been working on his acting ever since he was a child. "He must be a real pro at forging evidence by now. Do you know why they call him the Puppet Master? Yeah, that's another thing about him I found out the hard way when I was younger; he's also into the brain-washing and mind-controlling business."

A dawning of realization passed over the silver-haired man's expression, and Klavier could tell that he still knew things that Miles didn't, as he always would. One did not see the future for free, after all. Unfortunately, it was clouded over by worry all too quickly, and the blond teen had to bring around the true topic before the two could launch into a discussion over his brother's misdeeds.

"But that's not what you were meaning to tell me, am I right? So go on; what is it?"

Klavier was certainly not prepared for what the silver-haired prosecutor was about to tell him; he knew the subject, but he had not been expecting the suddenness and finality with which it was said.

"...They want to end our struggles as soon as possible. Tonight, we have to be ready for a final stand."

Apollo.

The feeling crashed right into the defenseless blond, and he wavered where he was standing slightly. That was a lot to take in all at once for the teen. It may have been just a bit too much at the time, but he would choke the rest of the information down in a jiffy. That is, if he didn't suffocate first.

He had seen this coming. Why was he so surprised about it?

He would have to fight. He would have to kill. He would have to die.

Inhaling deeply, he reached out and took hold of the desk to steady himself, trying to keep a stopper on his pent up excitement and emotions. Trying to keep them from exploding open into a million untraceable pieces.

No good.

The stopper burst, as did his energy concerning the subject. "Tonight?!" Recoiling from the blond teen, the silver-haired prosecutor noted how emotions could also control the teen's abilities. Because of the anger, anxiousness, and dread all balled up into one explosion, the air and space surrounding the rocker was crackling and sparking with an electric current. It was enough to shock anyone or anything within his vicinity. "I-I didn't think it would be so...so soon! I thought they'd have the common sense to-to wait at least a short while before proposing that we w-wipe them out!"

"Klavier..."

"I don't want to f-fight them! I-I won't! I refuse!!"

Sighing the silver-haired prosecutor made sure to avoid the pacing, rapidly speaking blond teen. His aura was in discord, as was shown by the electrical current surrounding him as he paced, surging dangerously, as if it was a pulsing, breathing power. Really, what interested Miles the most was that Klavier was most upset by the introduction of a final stand.

However, having everything in the High Prosecutor's office electrified was not a thrilling prospect, so he had to find a way to calm the fairly new prosecutor down. Besides that, the teen was twitching and trembling dangerously. "It's tonight, you can't stop that, and you'll have plenty of time to discharge then, so please, shut off your power before you harm something in your brother's office."

After a few moments of steadiness, the blond having stopped his pacing so that he could concentrate enough to replace the stopper, Klavier managed to sedate the crackling and stopped the current surrounding him. He seemed to have calmed himself down for the moment, even if calming down involved shoving his powerful emotions into a tight space and sealing it with great difficulty, so the older prosecutor decided to take his chance then.

"...If I'm right, then I'm not the only one who sympathizes with the defense's side. You...You're the same, aren't you?"

At first, Klavier remained silent, taking up his pacing again, too lost in thought to reply immediately. Although he scarcely noticed it, the silver-haired prosecutor was holding his breath in anticipation. "...Yes. But this subject will not leave this room, because I've been trying something. I want to give that feeling up. I no longer want to feel the way he makes me feel."

The teen's aura was still in a discord, but at least it was no longer sparking. Still, the silver-haired man was staring incredulously at the blond, unable to accept what had been said at face value. "...You have to be kidding. You have to be." Answered by silence, it was the older man's turn to ignite the aura around himself in rage, the fire suspended wisely just off of the ground and hovering away from the burnable objects. However, it was threatening. The blond's eyes widened and he shrank back fearfully from the advancing man. "You are an idiot!! Don't you realize what you're doing?! What you've done?! You have a chance with this and you're ready to throw it away?! You disgust me!!"

Silence continued to pervade the room, broken only by the angry snapping of the fire and the furious breathing of the older man. The quicker, panicked inhales of the teen were surprisingly quieter, like his voice, than one would expect from the blond who liked to listen to his music at the maximum volume.

"I'm not...throwing it away..." The teen prosecutor finally spoke up, having found his soft voice at last. Interested in the boy's excuse, Miles extinguished his rage and stood back to listen, one eyebrow raised in disbelief. "...I would never throw it all away...But I knew that a last stand would be coming soon. So I wanted him to hate me, so that he wouldn't hold back against me once we were going to fight. It's painful; you should know how painful it is to have something you want just out of your grasp."

"...Yes. I do know. Which is why you're an idiot to think that it's improbable."

The blond, although looking crestfallen, stared up at his silver-haired senior with hope mingled with disbelief. He was still so torn up; Miles had to think of something for this teen to do in order to keep his mind off of the upcoming disaster. Besides that, there was some much needed research that he needed to get accomplished.

"...However, right now, we need to prepare for that strike at those who declare these feelings impossible. Would you kindly help me out with a few things, Klavier? I need to have some research done on a subject I'm not allowed to touch..."


	6. Turnabout of the Night

**Turnabout of the Night

* * *

**

Night fell too quickly for the group of attorneys. Phoenix had far too much on his mind to concentrate, as did Apollo and Mia, worrying their assistants and the vagabond. They had plenty of time to get their three main fighters back on track through the night, at least.

Or so they had assumed.

The group did not anticipate the note being left at their door, calling for a final stand to end their dispute. The dispute had been around ever since the perfectionist and the first super hero defense attorney, known only by his alias, Ghost Ember, were around to battle, one protecting justice and the other to destroy justice. Unfortunately, the perfectionist killed Ghost Ember in their final battle, and he erased the memory of the first super attorney from the memories of many.

Lawyers like Mia and Diego could not forget the courageous man.

However, Diego had been put into a coma, and Mia had to defend a man who was willing to take a guilty verdict for the girl who had put the attorney's fiancée in that coma. This boy she defended had also known the famous man, and when he requested an internship, Mia could not refuse.

Now there was nothing preventing another tragedy from happening. One of them could die; they refused to give in so easily.

With these motivations in mind, the defense team prepared themselves and left to go meet with the prosecution's team for their final stand. They were expecting an ambush, so they made sure to approach with caution.

With this crowd, one always had to be prepared for the absolute worst.

The place they were called to was an open place without much cover, a sort-of office park, with a street lamp to light the vicinity. There was a singly lone tree, no benches, and the place was as barren as a battlefield after the war. Standing underneath the harsh light were their enemies, waiting with an officious air for their opponents to appear. With a subtle signal, the chief called them all out from hiding in the darkness and they all flowed smoothly out into the open to confront their adversaries.

After squaring off with each other, the two leaders of the prosecution stepped up to face the chief of the defense team. Both of the prosecutors who were unsure of where they stood avoided the gazes of the ones who brought up those insecurities, and the sightless God looked at the opposition as if his fiancée did not even exist. The whip toting prosecutor and the vagabond were exchanging words, half filled with taunts and the other half with threats.

Sniffing disdainfully at the opposition, the perfectionist crossed his arms over his chest. He was careful not to grip his right shoulder where the only wound that he had ever received still remained. "I did not think that such filth had the impudence to come after we had decided to wipe you out. Your cowardly skirmishes have ceased to amuse me."

Beside the seasoned veteran, the blond wearing the glasses smirked in triumph. He had been the one to voice the suggestion of wiping the others out. Once they were eliminated, then they would pick off those that remained in the prosecution's group, one-by-one. He was pleased merely hypothesizing about the event.

However, the chief was also smirking. She had been tipped off, and she would be using it to her best advantage. "Oh really? Well at least I don't have to forge evidence or make imperfect deals in order to win my cases."

Of course, for her, it wasn't all about winning; it was about believing in your client and finding the truth. Using this style of speech, thought, was the best way to spark a recognition and a reaction from the prosecutor who would do anything to win a court case.

And work it did.

Gritting his teeth and clenching his right shoulder, the perfectionist looked ready to fly into a rage at the chief of the defense attorneys. By the baffled face the man in the glasses had made momentarily, one could tell that the usually coldly composed man did not show such extreme emotions often. "I would never tarnish my perfection with such filth! Even when I received that penalty, the charges were faulty!"

"Liar!!" Trucy burst out, pointing a finger at the man accusingly. She had to break rank to do this, as her respective lawyer partner was doubled over in agony from his bracelet. Otherwise, he would have joined her in shouting out the man's slip-up. "You're lying!! You forge evidence even for the others to use, including the puppet master!!"

And with that, the perfectionist flew at the young magician girl in fury, having had enough of her antagonizing truths. Immediately, the attorney team scattered, and Maya and Pearl joined in defending Trucy to fight the oldest von Karma, while Kristoph dashed in to assist his partner, the aura around him freezing into mist and very sharp shards of ice.

Seeing this as their chance to fight now, Godot turned and locked into combat with the chief, smirking devilishly as she held back her own emotions to fight him at full force. With Gumshoe going to help the perfectionist on her orders, the whip-toting prosecutor flung herself into battle with the vagabond, surprised that he would be returning most of her attacks as eagerly as she was dishing them out, but she did not allow the surprise to best her.

With a personal grudge in mind, the rookie lawyer sprinted across to catch the blond prosecutor unexpectedly, and kicked him hard in the stomach to send him flying; he followed the path the rocker took shortly afterwards and the two disappeared into the darkness of the night, out of reach of the lamplight.

All that was left of sanity were the two childhood friends.

At first, Phoenix had stiffened instinctively as Miles approached, but all he did was shake his head solemnly and pass the defense attorney by, going to sit down underneath the cover and shade of the lone tree. He even looked back at the embarrassed lawyer and offered up the spot next to him as a friendly gesture. Feeling more nervous than he should have, the blue-clad lawyer relented and traveled into the shade to plop himself down beside the silver-haired man to oversee the battling and the battlers.

He had to be the first to speak. After all, this kind of situation demanded an explanation, and the old friend wasn't the type to offer up one when it was needed the most. "...You're not going to fight...?"

Miles smirked in the darkness. Phoenix had allowed his curiosity to bubble over. It was a good thing that Miles felt freer today than he had most of his life; but he had also been wondering if this man, his old friend, would ever understand what he was about to do.

Shrugging to himself, he closed his silver eyes to the vague shapes around him and subdued all of the shouting going on inside and outside. "...Why would I need to? I've finally decided where I stand in this, and it's not with them. But then again, it's not on the defense's side either."

Phoenix was becoming more and more intrigued. "Where then?"

A smile invaded his expression; he was glad that the other wasn't able to see him with the cover of darkness. "...I can't tell that to you quite yet. Wait until after all of this is over, and we've won this; after that, I'll make sure to tell you sometime."

It was Phoenix's turn to smile and be grateful. "I'll hold you to that; don't break your promises again, Miles."

Light chuckling was heard over the storm. "I won't. Not again."

"So you're with us all the way, then?"

"I'm with you all the way."

Nodding in agreement, they were finally able to see eye to eye once again. The two men stood up and surveyed the battlefield to see where they could help out the most and where to help first. Surprisingly, the fighting had not really evolved all that much; the three men were still struggling with the three assistants, the vagabond and the whip-toting prosecutor were still viciously exchanging their volleys, the chief and Godot were continually attacking, guarding, and parrying, over and over, and Apollo and Klavier were still out of sight.

Since the two younger members were not visible, the two more seasoned attorneys decided to start with them. Phoenix trusted his daughter and assistants enough to know that they would not lose so quickly against the two main powers and one bumbling detective.

The two moved off in the direction they saw the red-clad lawyer blast the blond prosecutor, allowed their eyes some time to adjust to the darkness, and saw Apollo punching Klavier in the face repeatedly. Although the silver-haired man started at this, the blue-clad lawyer held him back momentarily. If the two couldn't solve their problem on their own, only then would the senior attorneys intervene.

Apollo, meanwhile, hadn't even noticed that they had an audience. He just kept beating at the infuriating blond prosecutor. Quickly, he landed a kick to the older teen's gut and knocked him down to the floor. Both were breathing heavily, but for different reasons. The rookie lawyer was glaring hard at the rocker, and yet he was sounding strained, choked up.

"Fight." He ground out the words. Klavier shook his head. Enraged, Apollo kicked him over again and into the ground. The dim light that could reach them in the darkness was glinting off of small streaks that ran down the red-clad attorney's cheeks. "Why?! Why won't you fight?! Fight back!! Fight me back, Klavier!!"

Punching the blond in the face again, Apollo was brought down to his knees in front of the blond prosecutor. The punch had no real force behind it; it felt more like a light shove. For a moment, Klavier deflated, then inhaled calmly as he managed to lift his head and remove the trembling fist from where it was still desperately pressing into his face.

"...I told you, didn't I? I'm in refusal to your request; I'm not going to fight you. There's no...point to it."

Still questioning, Apollo glared up at the infuriating blond with a menacing expression. It was not the glare that the prosecutor noticed, but the half-heartedness with which it was committed. "But why?! It would be easier for me if you fought back!"

"Easier, yes..." Again, his face fell at the thought. A while ago, he had really wanted this; he had wanted the rookie lawyer to be the cause of his downfall. But now, with the knowledge he had gained in the past six hours, he was not about to go down without a fight. It was no longer an improbable thought. "...Though it wouldn't change things. I'd still care about you just as much. I still wouldn't want to fight you."

"Why have you let me attack you then? Why did I have to make you suffer?!"

This was it. "Because I fell in love with you too easily..." The rookie attorney gasped and looked up, eyes wide. No. The way his expression was in-between disgust and disbelief, the blond could tell he didn't believe it; didn't want to believe it. And just like always, Klavier knew that this would be an undesired outcome. It would be because he did not allow himself to see what was going to happen next. "...I loved you too much."

Before the brown-haired lawyer could completely break down, the two were grabbed roughly by their collars and hauled to their feet by the two spectators to the one-sided fight.

"Can you stand?" The silver-haired man asked the both of them generally. Both nodded, eyes widened from shock that there were others there to witness their bout. "Good. We have to move, and soon. The others will need our help fighting these two abominations."

After a moment, the blond managed to find his voice again. He had lost it from the shock of seeing and finding out that the two rookies had spectators to their fight. "...We're going to fight them now? Truly?" At his superior's nod of affirmation, a smile flourished on the rocker prosecutor's lips. He was bunged up pretty badly, and yet he still had the will and ability to smile with good news. "Finally! And here I thought nothing else would really come of this foolish decision tonight! Though I would have seen this coming if I had told you sooner."

"No time right now. Tell me what you found out later, Klavier."

"You have my word, Herr Miles."

Somehow, the blond found it in him to smirk a little. Although he didn't want to be the one to reveal such shocking news to the easily wracked prosecutor, there was no one else who knew exactly what the rocker had found out. It would be a big turning point for the silver-haired man; the only thing the blond teen would not allow himself to know was how well the news would be taken.

There was no time for him to be seeing. Right now, they had to stop the fighting.

The four rushed over to where the first two had last seen the vagabond battling the whip-toting prosecutor, and were not very surprised to find them still in the middle of their scuffle. With no time to spare, Phoenix entrusted both Apollo and Klavier to wait for the two to finish while he and Miles left to help the three assistants, who were getting into a situation they couldn't handle on their own.

The chief and Godot were still facing off, but there was no doubt that she was going to be able to win that skirmish. The rookie attorney's mind went towards the bumbling detective, now forced to fight against the one man he really trusted in, the reason why he had such an animosity towards the defense team.

Stealing a glance at the blond prosecutor beside him, who was hurt pretty badly and had a horrible black eye, the red-clad attorney felt a little guilty for what had happened. Especially since he didn't want the other to know that there was still some things that he needed answered, though now was definitely not the time to have the inquiries made.

Instead, he turned his attention to the war going on that they were supposed to have been observing. The fight before the two waiting companions was viciously unrelenting. Franziska and Larry both would not hold back, despite the fact that Franziska was a woman and not holding back might kill the other. The aura around the vagabond was turbulent and furious; the water was confined to the area surrounding the man in the orange jacket until he needed it to bend to his will to attack or defend.

Franziska, on the other hand, was too quick for the snapping and slashing water. Whenever a thin, sharp strand would slice at her, she would delicately step out of its way or nimbly block the sweeping path with the hilt of her revered weapon. And whenever she would move in for an attack or a side sweep, the water surrounding the vagabond would form a barrier to block the whip-toting teen. If and when she could bypass the wall of water, the two would get into a fist fight until Larry used the super-powerful projection of his voice to shout her back away from himself.

Sadly, this was amusing to the red-clad defense attorney. Luckily, both spectators could tell that the bout would end soon.

Franziska wasn't paying close enough attention to the water surrounding Larry, and, instinctively, a rope shot out and tripped up the prosecutor, bringing her to her knees. Immediately, there was a sword point at the silvery blue-haired teen's neck, declaring who the victor was. She closed her eyes, accepting the loss gallantly.

The piercing pain never came.

She cracked her eyes open just a tad, then fully opened them all the way in fury. Bewilderingly, strangely, the vagabond had stepped back and lowered his weapon. He had hesitated.

Frustration welled up inside of the teenage prosecutor, and the girl gritted her teeth angrily, wildly angered with this act of cowardice, of mercy. She knew that with his hesitation came her victory. Without another moment of stillness, she jumped up to knock down the vagabond, took him by the front of his shirt, and pulled her fist back to deal a damaging blow to his head, leaving him with a very serious expression, an expression of true acceptance of his fate.

The blow was suspended beside the piercing pain.

Like the vagabond, she had hesitated.

This man felt different than most she had ever met. He was impractical, imperfect in all ways, and a terrible flirt like many others.

So **why was she hesitating?!**

As hard as she tried, she couldn't strike him anymore. On top of shaming her by showing her mercy, he was the enemy. There was no reason why she had to return the favor. But his look that she had just brushed off as simply flirtatious was turning out to be true.

Some things could not be perfect. She would have to fight for what she wanted, but when had she ever not in her life?

It was time to face the truth for once.

She could not keep running away.

Relinquishing her grip on his collar, she faced away from the man and gripped her right shoulder uncomfortably. It was the same habit of her father's, and everyone knew it. "...I'll-I'll spare your life since you have spared me mine. But only this time, you perfectly foolishly foolish fool."

Instantly, a huge grin broke out on the vagabond's face. He could be serous, but his crazy whimsical personality suited him better, even in situations like this. "Great! So, now that my life's spared, wanna go out on a date with me?"

As Franziska slapped Larry, flushed in embarrassment at the very thought, both spectators shared a moment of solace while they laughed at how the two opposed each other. Somehow, affections always found a way.

The chief and god were one other example of this.

Even after all the time passed of the two exchanging attacks, she still refused to give up on him. Beaten, bruised, breathless and anxious, she refused to cave in and allow sense to take over to allow deceit to win. The truth was, first and foremost, the strongest aspect of belief.

If she could find the truth and have faith in all of her clients, then she could bring her supposedly assassinated fiancée back from the dark shadows of ignorance.

And they were a very good match for each other. Whenever she would plan out a well-devised attack, he would parry as if it had been as simple as a mere parlor trick. If he threw an attack at her that was carefully planned, she would disassemble it and parry, tearing the plan apart as if a child had thought the strategy up.

With how they both connected so easily, Godot had been inwardly put off-balance. How could this woman, this attorney, have been so easy to adapt to his every move, as if they had known each other? He was a prosecutor, he certainly wasn't going to be put in the same group as this defense attorney.

And yet, with every blow she was able to land, something inside howled out in agony. With every blow he landed, the screaming grew worse. He felt like he was going to tear himself apart if this fight wore on any longer. Something inside his mind, a mental block placed there, was beginning to crack faster than his natural ability could heal it. Sooner than later, the dam was going to burst open.

Suddenly, Mia dropped her guard. The blind prosecutor couldn't believe it. She was actually holding out her arms and waiting for him to strike her.

This was his chance to end the battle.

His feet were frozen in place, his arms would not pull back in preparation to punch, every muscle in his body was tensed and unwilling to obey.

Why couldn't he move in to strike the finishing blow? That was what he had been ordered to do!

_'Well, screw my orders! I'm not hurting her! Not anymore!! I'm not hurting my kitten; Mia!!'_

The second the voice screamed out in his mind, a blank void formed where his thought process to defeat this defense attorney had been. Slowly, he straightened and stood there with a puzzled expression on his face. In front of him, the chief put down her arms and waited, sure that this change in personality was a good thing. Slowly but surely, everything was coming to light; it was dawning on him what was really happening around him.

A bead of cold sweat dripped down his forehead, reminding him of the visor he had been forced to wear for the necessity of sight which they had needed him to have. He remembered a time where he cursed his ability because it could heal every part of him except for his eyes, the things he wanted back the most.

Without his sight, he couldn't see the woman he loved again if he wasn't wearing the accursed metal visor. And because that intern of hers could see, he had hated that smiling blue-clad defense attorney.

The puppet master had simply found that pressure point and sued it to his best advantage, blinding the man further from being able to recognize his fiancée and manipulating that rage into a mind controlling tool.

Trembling, though trying hard not to show it, he stepped over and embraced the chief, leaning his head down on her shoulder comfortingly. It was his silent way of telling her that he was back in his right mind.

"Mia...Oh, Mia, I love you so much..."

Mia could not keep the smile off her face. She flushed with pleasure that she would soon have her fiancée back. It had been a deep wound in her heart that had never quite healed, and it would have stuck with her until she could bring him back from their clutches. Luckily, she reobtained him without too much damage.

At times he could be overbearing, and his addiction to coffee was something to be abhorred, but at least she had him back. She loved him too much to let trivial troubles get in the way of her affections; besides, his shortcomings made him all the more desirable, as they made him human.

"...Diego...I'm glad you're back...I love you too..."

As Larry and Franziska bickered playfully in the background, both Apollo and Klavier stepped up hesitantly towards the two lovers. It had been decided that Apollo would speak, as he knew the chief better than Klavier knew the other prosecutor. "Uh, Chief...I hate to cut the reunion short, but we need to go help Maya, Trucy, Pearl, Mister Phoenix and Mister Edgeworth! In order to beat Prosecutor von Karma and Mister Gavin, we'll need to join together!"

The two nodded, although Diego looked as if he was going to whine about this. Rejuvenated by the mere mention of defeating the two loathed leaders of the prosecution, the six rushed over and joined in the battle, the couples having a complementary style of fighting, as much as some would have hated to admit it, and the three assistants working together like they were all as close as sisters.

This did not surprise the two leader prosecutors, though the bumbling detective was set off balance. If anything, the prosecutors became even more vicious, settling on attacking both the attorneys and the converts with a renewed vengeance. They would not lose this battle; as prosecutors, they always got their guilty verdicts. The older was the epitome of perfection, the blond with glasses was the manifestation of evil excellence. As villains, they would always win. Always.

But the detective was not entirely sure what to do anymore. After all, his role model, the prosecutor he admired the most, had joined up with the defense attorneys and now he was fighting alongside his greatest rival in court. Nothing was making sense anymore. Was the detective on the wrong side? Could it be that what he decided to fight for was not something he wanted?

All he wanted was for the prosecutor whom he respected to be all he could. He wanted to make sure that the silver-haired prosecutor was victorious and no longer reeling with defeat...

But every second more he fought against this man who demanded great respect, the more he was convinced that he was not on the right side.

At once, seeming to sense the doubt the detective in the green trench coat held, Gumshoe clashed with the silver-haired man, pushing against each other, beating and beating to force the other to succumb and lose. Miles seemed furious, as the aura surrounding him suggested, ignited in a frenzy, burning and passionate with rage.

"I know where I stand!" Raging, the silver-haired man managed to beat the detective back and to the floor. Pulling a sword-like shape from the flames, the weapon was redirected to threateningly just at the detective's throat. The heat was oppressively burning, the fire raging with the fury and passion of the prosecutor's aura. "I know, so why don't you? Decide before you fight, Detective Gumshoe!!"

In an act of momentary mercy despite his flaming anger, Miles removed the sword and dashed at his former mentor with the weapon, filled with the same malice and disapproval that had been fueling him to fight against the bumbling detective. Left with nothing else besides a revelation, Gumshoe stood and joined back into the fray, a new convert, fighting jovially alongside the blue-clad magician and the youngest spirit medium.

He knew where he stood now; against the evil that threatened to interfere with his work as the head homicide detective at the precinct.

The defense team was happy to receive his assistance and the leaders of the prosecution could have cared less. In fact, they really didn't see the increasing numbers as a problem; they were perfection, the righteous, and the righteous always prevailed when confronted by the imperfect.

And it really seemed like it wouldn't make a difference.

When both Larry and Franziska attacked the perfectionist at once, both wielding whips, the older and clearly more experienced prosecutor parried and shocked the two back with a wall of electricity created from his aura, and immediately blocked the silver-haired man's blow of a swing of his fire blade with a javelin of electric current, then dealt the younger prosecutor a wounding blow before turning the unsteadied man to his partner, who immediately set into the wounded man with the threat of being frozen.

Phoenix, who saw this, was joined by Gumshoe and his daughter in his attempt to save the silver-haired prosecutor, but the older Gavin brother wasn't about to allow the rescue group to steal back his quarry, and set up a thick wall of ice to stop the charging defense team. Luckily, the blond teen was able to avoid this and struck at his brother, using his aura as an electrified whip. The glasses wearing man had been expecting this from his younger sibling. However, before he could pierce the shocked prosecutor with an ice needle, the red-clad attorney burst in and swept away with both converts in tow.

The defense team had yet to inflict a would upon the two leaders. The outlook was bleak. And yet they would not give up or stop trying.

Diego and Mia rushed in, attacking both men, but the two parried as well as they could dish out blows. Just behind the two chargers, both Maya and Pearl were concentrating enough to put a temporary restriction in both prosecutor's minds that stopped their auras from being reactive.

Though this move startled both men, they easily beat the two blockades down and allowed their aura free reign again, just in time for an attack from the perceiving siblings and their adopted father figure. The three were blasted back, and though Klavier and Miles had followed up their attack seamlessly and wisely, the two were still blocked from wounding the two and thrown back like their predecessors.

Smirking, the elder von Karma formed a cane-shaped form and a tazer-like object from his sparking aura. They were merely for show, if not useful during hand-to-hand combat. "You're all out of your leagues. Amateurs fighting seasoned battlers like us...You're all attempting to follow in that pathetic girl's footsteps. She could have made it, but she was far too unskilled and made too many mistakes due to her emotions. She was a fool, like the rest of you."

As Kristoph nodded in agreement beside the gray-haired man, a wicked expression painting his face, Klavier stepped up to face the two, thrusting out a fist to show his determination, the absence of a wall behind him making no difference. A sudden bad feeling washed over Miles, but only for a moment; the two would not attack the younger prosecutor from curiosity of what he had to say.

"...You dare to call us fools?" Again, the anger was building up inside of him; he knew the outcome of this battle well, though he had tried so hard not to allow himself the sight, but he was still enraged by this fact. The aura around him exploded, crackling with fury and rage. For once, he lost his smile, and a look of extreme anger passed through his entire being. "You dare to call us fools when you would sacrifice the life of a man for the sake of revenge?! That you would raise his son to enact one last act on the already dead?!"

Again, the aura around him pulsed with an inner strength most could not have predicted that the younger prosecutor would have. Even the red-clad attorney found himself in awe as the blond thrust the final nail in the coffin by pointing at the two leaders in his usual habit, only now there was lightning to surround him, making his silhouette even more menacing.

"You killed the Ghost Ember, Gregory Edgeworth, for these reasons and you dare to call us fools?! Scum?!"

If anything was said in retort, Miles no longer heard nor registered the voices around him. His father had been killed by the man who mentored him? Suddenly, everything was beginning to make sense to him now; the forged evidence, the harsh treatment, the push to become everything his father would not have wanted for him; it had all been a play to get revenge on his already dead father one last time.

This man had killed his father.

There was something that was just far too wrong with that.

Something needed to be done.

He needed retribution now!

Without warning, the silver-haired man was aflame once again, this time the fire burning wildly and passionately out of control. In a heart beat, he charged at the two lead prosecutors, who for once were not expecting this attack. It had happened to rapidly, too unexpectedly.

The moment his blows began to connect, the chief and the blue-clad attorney saw that they had a chance of ending this fight now, but as long as the silver-haired prosecutor was uncontrollably furious, there might have been a slight problem with exacting righteous retribution.

They weren't about to send piles of ashes or burnt up corpses to jail.

Bewilderingly, Trucy jumped up for joy when Miles began his assault and joined him in the battle, which also perplexed the two leader prosecutors along with the now spectating supers. "Yipee, wait for me, Miles! The One-Girl Magic Act still has some fight left in her as well!"

"I can't believe she can take this situation so lightly!" Apollo burst out, gesturing vaguely towards the young magician girl first, then rubbing his forehead with his pointer finger. The fact that Klavier was smiling at him made his exhaustion worse. "And how can we just stand here and let her fight?! What about you?! What do you have to smile about?! You were angry a moment ago!!"

Holding back laughter, the blond teen patted his friend on the shoulder, no longer feeling the desire to fry the two leader prosecutors because of a stray thought of how dangerous his powers could be to both team mates and foes. It had been a while since he had last seen his good friend so riled up about something, though, and it was good for loosening up all that tension that came with the intense disgust he had been feeling a while ago.

Now, he was calmer, better, even, despite everything.

"I'm going to wait for this fight to finish itself. Did you wonder why I said what I said then? You don't need to worry so much about it, Apollo. Everything's...going to turn out all right."

Even though there had been a momentary pause, Apollo felt himself believing Klavier. There were a lot of things that the rocker seemed to know about before they occurred, but the red-clad attorney hadn't really questioned it until that moment. Deciding simply to trust this teen, his friend, the rookie lawyer nodded and sat back to watch with the blond teen, who grinned in amusement at this.

Phoenix had managed to hold back the rampaging prosecutor, who was now successfully sedated, in order for Diego and Mia to stop the two leader prosecutors and put them out of the equation. Currently, they were tied up and restricted from moving even a centimeter and Miles was panting tiredly, refusing to allow himself to have a much-needed cry.

Patiently, kindly, Phoenix stroked the man's back, waiting for him to collect himself back into something he deemed presentable to the rest of the crowd. Their fight had not aroused the attention of the public, thankfully, and they were ready to take the two despicable prosecutors to jail and then head home.

It had been a long and exhausting night.

And still, the blue-clad attorney couldn't help the smile on his face. Around him, former rivals and fierce enemies were conversing with one another in an almost normal, companion-like way. The others were celebrating their unity, just as he was.

First, they would take the two super villain prosecutors to a specialized jail cell that they knew they had available to them. They had to make absolutely sure that the two would not go out and cause havoc again.

After that...

They would rightfully celebrate their victories of the night.

What had started out as a close to hopeless battle had ended in a wonderful turnabout of the night.


	7. Epilogue: A New Turnabout

_Epilogue:_  
A New Turnabout

* * *

A week passed peacefully, restfully, for the group of attorneys and company. Finally, finally, the group had become one from its original split paths and they had all given up on rivaling one another; in the end, they were all simply friends in the first place.

The original couple, Mia and Diego, had taken back up their plans for marriage and would be well prepared within a month. The chief was looking into a way to return her beloved's eyesight to him while he managed their office while she was away and busy with the preparations for their wedding. He had once again returned to the defense attorney's practice.

The three assistants seemed happy with the results of the final stand, as did the bumbling detective, and they all were ecstatic with the announcement that the marriage would be held soon. Although Maya was still pressuring him, Phoenix had still not tried to change anything between him and Miles, his childhood friend. Pearl was as insistent as ever about her take on 'special someones', but that was one of the reasons why Mia, Maya, and Phoenix and the others loved her so much.

Apollo mysteriously disappeared at least twice a week, only to show up later with a grin on his face and a suspicious and prodding Trucy appearing to question him on his whereabouts. Even though he wouldn't say it out loud, Phoenix had an idea what was going on, and was happy for the two attorneys. After all, he had sensed a pain from them when they weren't allowed to be together at first.

Franziska had, shockingly, agreed to go out on a date with Larry that week. Somehow, it had turned into another date later in the next week, and Phoenix had a feeling that his girl-crazy friend might have a chance at this; he was very serious about it for a change, after all. Besides that, Franziska also seemed a little different with the release from her perfectionist father's clutches.

And Phoenix wasn't quite ready for a change of pace yet. He liked where his life was at the moment, as a successful lawyer who was a personal cult favorite of many and had his own place in the legal records as an 'Ace Attorney' who had the ability to cause a turnabout in a seemingly impossible case.

He was also sure that Miles was fine with his life as it was at the time being as well. Still, something did not sit right between the two, as Phoenix was still curious as to what Miles had promised to tell them after they had won the final stand.

So curious, in fact, that he called the prosecutor up during a Saturday afternoon and asked the other to meet him at a private and personal place for all of the supers; the mysterious restaurant that was only able to be found by those who looked hard enough.

"Is there anything you wanted to talk about in particular, Phoenix?"

Although the annoyance was clear in the other man's voice, he was still calling the blue-clad lawyer by his first name; a good sign. The two were sitting a little awkwardly at a table inside the warmly lit dark interior of the hidden bistro-style restaurant. They had not yet decided what to order, and it seemed as if the prosecutor wanted to get the business portion out of the way before they ate.

Of course, the spiked black-haired defense attorney wasn't about to allow his childhood friend to get straight to the point. He was such an immature child in that sense. "Huh? What makes you ask that, Miles?"

By how the grimace combined with a glare grew on the other's face, Phoenix could tell that his friendly grin was not appreciated. "...I'm talking about what you told me on the phone. You said that there was something that was bothering you, and that you had to ask me about it. What is it?"

There was nothing that would work for the time being to loosen the other up. Perhaps it was how the atmosphere in the restaurant was so refined, but the silver-haired man was tensing up worse than ever. "Uh, well...I just wanted to ask you about what you meant that night we had the final battle." Both winced to hear their struggle brought up. The wounds were still fresh. Still, Phoenix doggedly persisted to get it all out in the open. "You promised me that, once it was all over, you would tell me where you truly stand in all of this. I kind of want to know, because it's kind of crucial to what my next actions will be..."

The blue-clad defense attorney was nervous; so was the silver-haired prosecutor.

Intertwining his fingers and absent-mindedly twisting the part of his left ring finger where it connected to his the rest of his hand, Miles looked pointedly away and tried to sort out everything in his mind. His nervous rubbing turned to looking downwards at a lower right angle and clenching his left arm tightly with his right. Both were signs that Apollo had once pointed out to Phoenix while he had still been an intern and had been an assistant to Phoenix for a few of the man's trials against his main rival.

If only he could read them like the rookie lawyer could!

Thoughts turning to the object of enhancement that Apollo wore, Phoenix remembered the special abilities of his own that he could utilize with the use of catalysts. One was his defense attorney's badge, which could help him see through any lie, and the other was his magatama, a mystical glowing green gem that allowed him to see the locks that others had on their hearts that protected their secrets.

Just as he was about to put one into use, however, the silver-haired man decided and turned to face his childhood friend, looking the man directly in the eyes.

He was not holding back with this admission.

"...Phoenix, when I said that I didn't stand with either the prosecution or the defense...I meant what I said. But...I do have a side that I stand on. And that side is yours. That's the place I'll stand; by you."

Phoenix was a bit taken aback. Such an admission from the other was not cheap in the slightest; this took guts and courage for the other to commit. And so a kind, gentle, smile leaked onto the blue-clad attorney's expression; it melted through his entire body.

He had been waiting for years to hear that from the other.

"...Yeah. I'll stick by you, too, Miles. Always have, always will."


End file.
